Grain-cleaning mechanism



Dec. 3, 1929. A. B. WELTY GRAIN CLEANING MECHANISM Filed June 30, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l Z7606 Y 7: jZZba fi? 504%.

Dec. 3, 1929. A. B. WELTY GRAIN CLEANING MECHANISM Filed June 30, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 24 Ira/015071 flZZ@ B.Z0,

Patented Dec. 3, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT B. WELTY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOIR TO INTERNATIONAL HARVESTlER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY GRAIN-CLEANING MECHANISM Application filed June 30,

This invention relates to grain cleaners and especially to a grain distributing mechanism particularly designed for use in recleaner attachments for threshing machines.

In cleaning grain by means of vibratory grain shoes as now practiced in the art, it is important that the grain be evenly distributed to such grain cleaning shoes. As conditions of grain and kinds of grain create different cleaning problems, it is advantageous and desirable that such distributing mechanism for the grain shoe be adjustable to meet such varying conditions.

With these general facts in mind, it is the main object of the present invention to provide an improved means for varying the distribution of grain to the grain cleaning shoe of a thresher and particularly to the cleaning shoe of a recleaner attachment.

Another object is generally to improve mechanisms for separating grain.

Other objects no doubt will be apparent to those skilled in this art as the present disclosure continues. 1

Briefly, these desirable objects are achieved in combination with a thresher having a grain cleaning shoe, a pan for directing grain to said shoe, a housing enclosing a conveying mechanism, said housing embodying a 30 discharge opening, of means for permitting rotatable adjustment of said housing with respect to the conveying means therein for varying the discharge of grain from the center to the sides relative to the grain pan, plus additional means for adjusting the grain panfurther to vary the character of distribution of the grain with respect to the grain cleaning shoe, all as will later more fully appear.

Looking now to the accompanying sheets of drawings illustrating one form which this invention may assume in practice, it will be seen that:

Figure 1 is a general side elevational view of a recleaner attachment mounted on a thresher, parts thereof being broken away for the sake of clearness of illustration;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 1 with the hood 1927. Serial No. 202,475.

scale of the lap joint in thepan, as seen along the line 41 of FigureB;

Figure 5 is a side view of the pan and its adjusting means; 7

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail end view of, the pan adjusting means, partly in section, as seen along the line 66 of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a detail face view ofthe feed housing structure.

A standard threshing machine has been shown at 10, the same conventionally carrying a recleaner attachment 11, which attachment embodies the usual framework 12 supporting a fanning mill 13 at one end, having a discharge funnel 14 directed into a grain clean ing shoe 15 supported on rocker elements 16 mounted on the frame, as shown best in Figure 1. The fanning mill 13 includes the usual blower, not shown, carried on a shaft 17 which may be driven from a pulley and belt mechanism 18 from any moving part of the thresher 10, as is usual in this art. The shoe 15 may be conventionally vibrated by a pitman 19, which in this art is usually connected by an eccentric, not shown, to the fan shaft 17 At the discharge end of the grain cleaner shoe 15 is the usual discharge auger 20 leading to a discharge spout 21. p

In the upper end of the recleaner frame and on opposite sides thereof are depending.

brackets 22 for journaling a transverse shaft 23 upon which is arranged aconveying mechanism in the form of an auger 24. This conveying auger 2 1 is enclosed in a cylindrical housing 25 rotatably fitted in hanger brackets 26 carried by the frame 12. The housing embodies a rectangular opening 27, which opening at its bottom side, as best shown in Figure 7 and indicated by the numeral 28, slopes from the outer edge downwardly to the center of the housing for a purpose later to be described. Hand-hold pieces 29 are fastened to the housing so that an operator may manually turn the housing25 in the hangers 26 to adjust the opening 27 with respect to the auger conveyor 24.

The frame 12 of the recleaner includes a cross-piece 30, as best shown in Figures 2, 5 and 6, which cross-piece carries chutes 31 additionally mounted on supports 32 made fast to the discharge funnel 14 of the fanning mill. The chute 31 is arranged underneath and rearwardly of the auger housing 25 and forms the back side of a horizontally inclined grain pan 33 extending forwardly beneath the housing 25, which pan is directed to feed grain into the grain cleaning shoe 15. As best shown in Figure 3, this pan comprises two rec;- tangular sections arranged side by side, the adjacent marginal inner edges-carrying on their under sides, as shown in Figure 4, overlapping strips 34 to form'a lap joint between the two rectangular pan sections. As the sections are not rigidly secured together, the lap joint permits flexibility whereby it is possible to warp the center of the grain pan up or down by any suitable form of adjusting means. One such form of adjusting means will now be described.

' InFigure 6, it will be seen that the crosspiece 30 is bored out centrally to receive a collar 35, through which is passed a bolt 36, the bolt being locked against vertical motion by any suitable means, as shown. The bolt 36 depends downwardly to be passed through a channel piece 37' carrying a nut member 38 into which the bolt is threaded. Above the channel the bolt carries the hand wheel 39 locked thereto. The channel 37 extends forwardly and is made fast to the under-side of the grain pan, as best shown in Figure 5, while the chute parts 31 are also supported on this channel piece 37'. It can now be appreciated that rotation of the hand wheel 39 causes the nut 38 to travel along the bolt and carry with it the channel 37, and, as a result,

the bottom of the grain pan may be centrally warped up or downto vary the inclination of the two pan sections relative to each other for altering the flow of grain into the grain shoe 15.

The shaft 17 at its end remote from the pulley 18 carries a pulley 40 connected by a thereby driving the auger conveyer 24. An elevator chute 43 deliwers grain from the thrcsher 10 in a conventional manner to the housing 25 of the auger feeding mechanism. The use andoperation of the improved grain cleaning mechanism will now be described.

Grain is fed; upwardly in any conventional manner. by means of the elevator 43 from the thresher 10 and into the reGle mer auger housing 25 As the auger 24 rotates, it feed the grain along the housing 25 to be discharged therefrom through the opening 27.. The grain fall's onto the an 33 and is then directed into "the cleaning; s cc 15, which is being vibrated by gravity into the discharge auger 20 and to the spout 21.

To meet varying conditions, an operator may remove the hood, not shown, of the recleaner and by means of the hand-hold pieces 29 may manually rotate the housing 25,which is loosely mounted in the hangers 26. In this manner the location of the discharge opening 27 may be varied relative to the feeding mechanism 24, and thus greater or less amounts of grain may be spilled onto right side or left side of the grain pan. It is also important to note that the sloped bottom 28 of this discharge opening will permit a more even distribution of grain within the range of this opening, which can be thinned outtoward the sides of the housing, as is obvious.

tions and inclinations of the grain pan sec-. itions relatively to eachother to vary the flow of grain into the grain shoe 15. Thus, independent adjusting means has been provlded for ad usting the distribution of gram in the conveyer housing and onthe grain pan.

It can now be appreciated that all of the desirable objects of this invention heretofore recited are attained in the illustrative embodiment of the invention herein disclosed.

It is to be understood that this embodiment is shown for purposes of illustration only and that the same quitefiobviously capable of alteration and change and that it is the intention to cover all such modifications as do not depart from the spirit of this invention as is indicated'in the followingclaims.

' What is claimed as new is:

1. In a grain cleaner, the combination of a cleaning shoe, a pan for directing grain to the shoe, said pan comprising two sections flexibly joined along their inner adjacent marginal edges, and: means for warping said pan up or down to vary the distribution of grain to the shoe.

twisted belt 41 to a pulley 42 on the shaft 23, 2. Inv a grain cleaner, the combination of a i cleaning shoe, pan for directing grain to the shoe, said pan comprising a pair of sections lap jointed together along adjacent cleaning shoe, a flexible pan for directing grain to the shoe, said pan provided with the feed of grain to the shoe.

means for flexing its center portion to vary 41 In a grain cleaner, thecombination of a cleaning shoe, a feed houslng including a discharge opening, conveying means therein,

a pan for directing grain from the housing opening to the shoe, said housing being rotatable with respect to the conveying means therein for altering the flow of grain to the pan.

5. In a grain cleaner, the combination of a cleaning shoe, a feed housing including a discharge opening, an auger in the housing, a pan beneath the housing for directing grain to the shoe, said housing being rotatable and provided with hand-hold pieces for rotating the same for varying the flow of grain to the pan.

6. In a grain cleaner, the combination of a cleaning shoe, a feed housing including a discharge opening, a conveyer in the housing, a pan beneath the housing for directing grain to the shoe, means for adjusting the housing relative to the conveyer, and means for ad justing the pan relative to the housing.

7 In a grain cleaner, the combination of a cleaning shoe, a feed housing including a discharge opening, a conveyer in the housing, a flexible pan beneath the housing for directing grain to the shoe, and independent means for adjusting the housing and flexing the pan to regulate the flow of grain to the shoe.

8. In a grain cleaner, the combination of a cleaning mechanism, a pan structure for directing grain to the cleaning mechanism; said structure including a plurality of relatively adjustable pan sections arranged side by side, and a flexible joint for holding adjacent edges of the sections together.

9. In a grain cleaner, the combination of a cleaning mechanism, a pan structure for directing grain to the cleaning mechanism, said structure including a plurality of relatively adjustable pan sections arranged side by side, means for flexibly holding adjacent edges of the sections together, and means for adjusting said sections relatively to each other. j

10. In a grain cleaner, the combination of a cleaning mechanism, a feeding mechanism, a turnable housing provided with a discharge port enclosing the feeding mechanism, and a flexible pan structure for receiving the grain from the housing and for directing it to the cleaning mechanism.

11. In a grain cleaner, the combination of a cleaning mechanism, a feeding mechanism, a turnable housing provided with a discharge port enclosing the feeding mechanism, a pan structure for receiving the grain from the housing to direct it to the cleaning mechanism, said pan structure comprising flexibly related pan sections, and means for rela tively adjusting said sections relative to each other.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ALBERT B. WELTY. 

